HC 


UC-NRLF 


S7« 


George  Davidson 


SOME    REMARKS 


ON    THE 


PRESENT    DISCONTENT 

BY 

REV.  DRJ  STEBBINS 

I 

San  Francisco,    February  29th,  188O. 


The  words  of  wise  men  are  heard  in  quiet  more  than  the  cry  of  him  that 
ruleth  among  fools. — ECCLESIA.STES  ix,  17. 

The  preacher  might  have  added  also  that  the  words  of 
the  wise  are  sometimes  spoken  so  quietly  that  they  are  not 
heard  at  all  beyond  the  ear  in  which  they  are  spoken,  and 
yet  they  get  abroad  into  the  common  air,  and  modify  .the 
thoughts  and  feelings  of  men.  Wisdom  is  a  sort  of  calm, 
penetrating,  round-about  judgment  of  times,  events,  men, 
and  things.  It  is  no  conceit  of  knowledge,  but  such  an 
appreciation  of  things  as  discharges  the  mind  of  all  conceit, 
and  brings  in  humility  at  the  sense  of  how  little  it  knows. 
Then,  too,  as  men  grow  wise  they  grow  silent,  and  sparing 
of  their  words.  I  do  not  remember  of  ever  having  seen  a 
garrulous  man  who  was  a  wise  man.  I  suppose  that  it  was 
in  view  of  this  fact  that  wisdom  is  inclined  to  be  a  little 
reticent — that  Mr.  Carlyle,  in  one  of  his  pungent  paragraphs, 
so  satirizes  the  passion  for  rhetoric,  talking,  speech-making; 

o. 


and  praises  silence  and  work.  Of  all  business,  talking, 
declaiming,  popular  address  is  most  trying  to  integrity  of 
feeling,  clear  convictions  and  thorough  inward  honesty.  It 
was  this  profession  of  loquacity  that  Augustine  so  bitterly 
repented  of,  in  his  years  of  wisdom,  when  the  excellence  of 
truth  and  simplicity  had  dawned  on  him.  History  records 
that  a  sure  indication  of  the  decline  of  the  Roman  Empire 
was  that  the  profession  of  public  speaker  had  become  so 
popular,  and  the  grave  old  taciturn  Roman  had  got  to  driv- 
elling words  in  weak  loquacity.  Webster,  once,  in  his  place 
in  the  Senate,  disgusted  beyond  endurance  at  the  fulsome 
flattery  heaped  on  him  by  a  feeble  speaker,  drew  his  head 
down  in  chagrin,  and  cried  "O  get  out!"  He  said,  on 
another  occasion,  that  any  man  would  have  a  large  hearing 
and  a  great  popularity  who  would  go  through  the  country 
abusing  the  government  and  telling  the  people  that  they 
were  abused,  and  that  the  government  was  the  cause  of  all 
their  trouble. 

The  freedom  of  speech  and  of  the  press  are  equivalent  to 
popular  liberty  and  free  institutions,  inasmuch  as  there  can 
be  no  free  institutions  without  freedom  of  thought  and  ex- 
pression. The  abuse  of  so  great  a  principle  is  not  to  be 
wondered  at.  Even  the  abuse  is  a  safety-valve  to  that  which 
might  explode  if  confined,  if  only  a  large  body  of  the  people 
are  well  grounded  in  intelligence  and  right.  Popular  appeals 
to  popular  feeling  are  the  best  remedy  for  popular  wrongs 
or  popular  discontent.  The  very  idea  of  it  is  that  it  reduces 
vague  feeling  to  terms  of  intelligence;  and,  on  reflection, 
men  find  that  they  can  feel  more  strongly  than  they  can 
think. 

For  a  considerable  period  there  has  been  here  in  this  city 
a  free  swing  given  to  a  very  broad  style  of  popular  talk, 
ranging  from  indecent  and  vulgar  phrase,  and  black-guard 
lingo,  and  extravagant  epithets,  and  reckless  statements  to 
tirades  against  individuals,  institutions  and  things  in  gene- 
ral. The  sitting  of  the  Legislature,  the  inauguration  of  a 
new  Constitution  and  the  pinch  of  labor,  have  for  a  few 
weeks  revived  what  seemed  to  be  the  expiring  discontent; 
and  society,  by  contagious  moral  sympathy,  has  been  some- 


57? 


what  depressed.  I  think,  myself,  that  it  has  been  exaggerat- 
ed, and  that  too  much  attention  has  been  given  to  it,  and 
that  society  has  shown  itself  too  much  on  a  level  with  it. 

So  far  as  the  labor  question,  as  it  is  called,  or  labor  and 
capital,  is  concerned  with  the  social  discontent,  there  can  be 
no  settlement  on  any  present  terms  of  labor  and  capital.  It  is 
no  local  question,  but  of  universal  human  interest,  and  per- 
vades Christendom.  The  only  reconciliation  of  that  difficulty 
is  in  moving  forward  on  to  a  new  ground,  where  the  moral  re- 
lations of  employer  and  workman  are  recognized  as  clearly  as 
the  politico-economic  relation.  What  men  want  is  a  respect- 
ful consideration  of  their  welfare.  It  does  not  consist  in  the 
government  taking  them  up,  and  finding  work  for  all  who 
want  it.  A  parental  government  is  a  monarchy  or  a  despot- 
ism where  men  cannot  take  care  of  themselves;  but  in  a  free 
State  men  are  supposed  to  be  of  age  and  able  to  take  care  of 
themselves.  Capital  and  labor  will  never  be  at  peace,  nor 
will  they  ever  reap  their  full  rewards  until  they  have  a  mate- 
rial and  moral  interest  in  each  other's  welfare  over  and  above 
the  wages  paid  on  the  one  hand,  or  the  service  rendered  on 
the  other.  The  final  goal  is  not  parental  government,  nor 
socialism,  nor  communism,  nor  trades-unions,  but  co-opera- 
tion. This  will  not  be  accomplished  primarily  by  legislation, 
but  it  will  be  begun  here  and  there  by  enlightened  men  of 
comprehensive  and  liberal  views,  who  understand  that  good 
workmen  must  be  the  allies  of  their  employers.  A  writer  from 
that  part  of  the  country  which' we  call  The  West — evidently  a 
proprietor  and  influential  director  of  railroad  management, 
has  recently  sent  a  letter  to  a  distinguished  journal,  setting 
forth  in  a  clear  and  forcible  way  that  owners,  directors  and 
managers  of  railroads  should  adopt  some  method  of  helping 
their  workmen,  outside  the  duties  for  which  they  are  paid,  in 
their  private  lives.  He  is  a  man  of  experience  and  ability. 
His  view  I  will  not  discuss;  it  is  the  spirit  of  it  that  I  notice. 
It  is  the  appearance  of  the  moral  element  in  political  econo- 
my which,  until  recently,  has  been  altogether  ignored. 
Such  movements  will  get  into  form  after  a  while.  All  intel- 
ligent and  thoughtful  men  should  inform  themselves  on  these 
things,  and  know  what  is  being  done,  and  with  what  success. 


It  is,  according  to  my  way  of  thinking  and  feeling,  one  of 
the  most  interesting  and  important  subjects  that  our 
modern  society  presents.  If  intelligent  and  wise  men 
do  not  take  it  up,  passionate  and  ignorant  men  will. 
Men  who  can  only  feel  a  wrong  need  to  be  guided 
by  those  who  can  see  it.  If  there  is  anything  in  the 
future  that  seems  to  me  certain  in  the  unfolding  of 
principles,  it  is  that  labor  and  capital  can  never  settle 
down  on  the  old  bare  political  -  economy  -  proposition  of 
demand  and  supply.  The  matter  can  never  rest,  so  it  seems 
to  me,  save  on  terms  of  mutual  moral  support.  In  the  mean 
time,  the  man  who  talks  only  to  human  passions,  who  talks 
carelessly  about  the  rights  of  property,  and  only  disturbs 
men  where  they  are,  before  they  can  do  better,  is  a  moral 
incendiary,  and  deserves  condign  punishment. 

In  respect  to  the  new  Constitution,  and  the  uncertainty 
that  attends  legislative  and  judicial  proceedings  under  it,  I 
wish  to  make  one  remark  only,  and  that  is  in  regard  to  that 
provision  of  the  Constitution  which  forbids  the  employment 
of  Chinese  laborers  by  corporations  created  by  the  laws  of 
the  State.  I  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  law,  but  only  with 
the  morale  of  the  matter  as  it  has  appeared  in  the  streets  of 
the  city.  A  body  of  men  marching  through  town  and  taking 
it  upon  themselves  to  ask  citizens  what  they  proposed  to  do 
in  regard  to  the  management  of  their  business,  is  an  act  of 
usurpation,  which,  if  carried  out  to  its  legitimate  conclusion, 
would  subvert  the  government  of  any  municipality.  The 
good  sense  of  our  citizens  in  keeping  their  temper  in  the 
presence  of  an  offensive  intrusion,  is  honorable,  and  pro- 
bably is  to  be  understood  as  an  illustration  of  that  kind  of 
patience  that  does  not  hold  out  forever.  All  that  can  be 
said  about  it  is  that  it  was  impudent  and  insulting. 

On  the  other  hand,  I  think  citizens  who  were  hiring  Chi- 
nese laborers  at  the  time  of  the  inauguration  of  the  new  Con- 
stitution should  have  obeyed  the  law,  if  there  was  a  law  for- 
bidding the  hiring  of  that  class,  or  they  should  have  antici- 
pated the  new  state  of  things  and  brought  the  whole  matter 
before  the  proper  tribunals  at  the  earliest  moment  to  ascer- 
tain whether  or  not  this  particular  law  is  law.  But  I  think 


citizens  ought  to  obey  the  laws.  The  best  way  to  get  a  bad 
law  repealed  is  to  execute  it  rigidly.  And  so  in  regard  to 
the  condemnation  of  any  portion  of  the  city  on  account  of 
the  manners  and  customs  and  habits  of  the  population  there. 
Let  the  law  be  executed,  and  let  all  good  citizens  say-  that 
the  law  shall  be  executed  according  to  law,  that  is,  left  to 
the  decision  of  the  Courts.  The  violent  language  we  hear 
in  the  street  would  make  us  shudder  if  we  were  not  accus- 
tomed to  it  ;  but  we  have  become  so  familiar  with  all  this 
style  of  popular  language  that  many  would  miss  it  from  the 
substance  of  the  daily  news. 

I  suppose  it  is  fair  in  all  our  judgments  of  the  present 
condition  of  things  here,  to  make  some  allowance  for  the 
motley  class  of  people  that  may  be  found  in  the  city.  I  am 
accustomed  to  think  that  as  regards  the  population  of  the 
city,  it  is  the  most  American  city  in  the  Union.  There  are 
people  here  from  every  State,  and  there  are  people  here  at- 
tracted by  every  motive  that  ever  influenced  human  conduct.  I 
suppose  there  are  more  people  here  who  belong  to  that  class 
commonly  known  as  "living  by  their  wits"  than  in  any  other 
city  of  equal  population  in  the  Kepublic.  I  suppose  there 
are  more  people  here  "from  every  town  but  this,"  than  in  any 
other  town  of  equal  dimensions.  There  is  some  reason  to 
believe  that  our  fellow  citizens  of  the  workingmen  are  not 
aware  how  large  a  class  of  this  sort  are  hanging  upon  their 
skirts.  And  it  is  just  toward  the  workingmen  to  tell  them 
that  they  inadvertently  and  unwittingly  get  a  good  deal  of 
damaging  reputation  from  that  class.  Industrious  men  are 
not  violent  men,  and  they  commonly  have  sense  enough  to 
know  that  passion  is  not  energy,  and  that  the  man  who 
'killed  the  goose  that  laid  the  golden  egg  has  not  had  any 
eggs  since.  Those  honest,  working,  and  hard-pressed  men 
who  have  nothing  to  do,  and  can  get  nothing  to  do  by  which 
to  earn  their  bread  and  their  children's  bread,  should  be  af- 
forded some  relief.  Good  citizens  ought  to  help  them  by 
contriving  some  industry,  which,  if  it  will  not  pay,  will  do 
something  better  than  that — keep  a  respectable  class  from 
humiliating  charity,  and  do  something,  however  clumsily,  to 
show  that  there  is  some  good-will  toward  men.  But  all 


6 

such,  who  are  in"  the  sharp  pinch  of  necessity,  and  in  the 
prison  of  enforced  idleness,  must  cut  loose  from  every  asso- 
ciation with  violence  or  the  semblance  of  violence.  Men 
who  live  by  their  hands  can  never  gain  anything  from  those 
who  "live  by  their  wits.  Yet  it  is  the  very  cunning,  and 
craft  and  vocation  of  those  who  live  by  their  wits,  to  attach 
themselves  to,  and  mix  themselves  up  with  those  who  live 
with  their  hands.  Were  it  not  for  this  fact,  a  fact  manifest 
to  all,  the  spontaneous  good  feeling  of  men  would  relieve 
the  distress  of  enforced  idleness  until  settled  opinions  and 
reviving  industry,  that  must  come  at  no  distant  day,  sent 
their  genial  beams  over  the  land. 

There  has,  within  a  few  days,  been  a  marked  change  in 
the  tone  of  feeling  and  speech.  Some  wise  man  has  uttered 
a  word  in  quiet  that  has  been  heard  and  felt.  Nobody  can 
for  a  moment  doubt  the  power  of  society  here  to  maintain 
order,  and  to  inflict  a  terrible  doom  upon  the  breeders  of 
mischief.  But  wisdom  is  profitable  to  direct,  and  all  may 
be  congratulated  upon  the  changed  temperature  of  the  air. 
Let  us  be  firm,  good-natured,  intelligent  and  kind,  without 
prejudice  or  passion,  but  with  wisdom  and  strength,  holding 
to  the  good  of  all. 

It  is  very  natural  at  a  time  like  this,  and  in  circumstances 
so  peculiar,  that  the  Mayor  of  the  city,  the  officer  and  con- 
servator of  the  public  welfare,  should  be  the  subject  of 
much  criticism,  while  he  is  also  looked  to  as  the  guardian  of 
the  city.  I  am  now  only  interested  in  him  as  a  public  man, 
and  I  desire  success  and  honor  to  attend  him  in  his  muni- 
cipal administration.  He  is  a  man  manifestly  of  many 
abilities,  much  neutralized  by  indiscretion,  and  of  great  ad- 
miration for  popular  applause.  His  faculty  for  speech  is 
dangerous  alike  to  his  usefulness  and  to  his  own  fame.  Add- 
ing to  that  his  fondness  for  place,  and  an  unmistakeable 
tendency  to  interpret  place  to  mean  the  respect  of  mankind, 
and  to  conclude  that  those  who  vote  for  him  honor  and  ad- 
mire him,  the  Mayor  unites  many  elements  of  weakness  as 
a  ruler.  He  should  admonish  himself  in  the  moment  of  his 
successes,  of  those  things  that  check  the  pride  of  men,  and 
make  them  silent  in  the  presence  of  much  their  own  hands 


have  not  wrought.  The  Mayor*,  above  all,  should  remember 
that  his  notoriety  is  much  greater  than  his  reputation.  He 
should,  in  gratitude  to  that  Almighty  Providence  by  which 
his  life  was  preserved  from  the  hand  of  an  assassin,  humbly 
remember  that  had  he  died  by  that  cowardly  hand,  it  would 
have  been  no  martyr's  death,  and  no  martyr's  name  that  he 
would  have  died  or  won.  It  was  a  tavern  brawl,  all  but  the 
tavern.  The  Mayor  should  remember  that  it  is  not  becom- 
ing, nor  fitted  to  increase  or  win  the  respect  of  his  fellow- 
men,  for  him  in  loose  and  voicy  oratory  to  tell  his  fellow- 
citizen's  that  'twas  for  their  cause  he  bled.  The  Mayor 
should  remember,  in  the  brief  moment  of  official  station, 
that  so  merciful  are  men,  that  the  assassin's  shot  carried  a 
wave  of  sympathy  to  him,  that  was  the  prime  moment  of  his 
success,  and  which  if  he  were  a  wise  man  he  would  never 
waste  in  his  great  need.  The  Mayor  should  remember,  that 
notwithstanding  his  great  fondness  for  speech,  silence  and 
activity  are  his  security  and  success,  and  that  few  words  and 
modest  honor  become  him  best.  I  can  wish  him  no  better 
success  and  no  truer  honor,  than  that  he  may  discharge  the 
duties  of  his  office  with  an  eye  single  to  the  public  good, 
and  that  the  fierce  experience  of  human  passions,  which  he 
has  done  so  much  to  kindle,  and  whose  deadly  recoil  has 
struck  him  so  heavily,  may  bring  forth  in  him  the  fruits  of 
wisdom,  humility  and  self-control.  To  the  end  of  the  wel- 
fare of  the  city,  to  the  end  of  every  humane  and  Christian 
sentiment  towards  the  poor,  to  the  end  of  wisdom,  gratitude 
and  charity  in  the  rich,  to  the  end  of  private  honor  and  pub- 
lic duty  well  done,  and  to  the  end  of  a  good  name,  which 
may  he  attain,  I  give  him  my  sincere  public  and  private 
wishes. 


GAYLAMOUNT 

PAMPHLET  BINDER 

•^ 

Manufactured  Ay 

6AYLORD  BROS.  Inc. 

Syracuse,  N.  Y. 

Stockton,  Calif. 


Y.C  7^ 


JV.291254 


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